The BLDGBLOG Book

I was on pins and needles all morning knowing that my doorbell would ring, that there would be a bicycle courier standing there waiting for me – and that he or she would then hand me my very first copy of The BLDGBLOG Book. And it arrived! It’s real, it’s in my hands – and it looks fantastic.

So amazing to see this thing in real life! From a series of Microsoft Word documents, to an ever-changing suite of PDFs, to a year and a half of long, long nights editing more than 125,000 words’ worth of content, it’s now bound, inked, and sitting here looking around at the world it tried to describe. And there’s so much to say about it, I don’t even really know where to begin. It’s got five major chapters and a huge bibliography; it’s got interviews, full-color photo spreads (by Simon Norfolk! David Maisel! Edward Burtynsky! Ilkka Halso! Bas Princen! and more!), as well as original illustrations by my colleague at Dwell, Brendan Callahan; it’s got maps and plans and architectural sections; it’s got renderings; it’s got 19th-century British ruin paintings, W.G. Sebald, and J.G. Ballard; it’s got FAT, geology, and rogue tunneling machines; it’s got urban farming, icebergs, archaeology, and Archigram; it’s got a saddle-stitched paperback binding that can open up flat, as well as multi-colored paper and an awesome use of a changing page grid; it’s got two original comic strips by BLDGBLOG (my first!), drawn by Joe Alterio and printed on the inside covers; it’s got runaway climate change, undersea cathedrals, artificial reefs, lost cities, oceangoing utopias, and the Chinese Olympics; it’s got injected landforms, spray-foam monuments to the nuclear power industry, Gustave Doré’s black and white visions of the underworld, and the architecture of Gothic horror; it’s got blimps, retractable villages on the British coast, the San Andreas Fault, underground warfare in the mountains of Afghanistan, and a short interview with Alex Trevi (among so many other interviews! dozens! from Sir Peter Cook, Sam Jacob, and DJ /rupture to Lebbeus Woods and Mary Beard); it’s got exploding stars, simulated mountain ranges on Venus, Mars habitats, and a quantum tomb for Albert Einstein; it’s got Minsuk Cho, China Miéville, Christopher Wren, Frederick the Great, and Paradise Lost. Man, I’m so excited and so genuinely pleased to see this thing in person after such an incredibly long time putting it together. Check out some spreads here – and feel free to order the living crap out of this thing on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Amazon.co.uk, or simply go straight to the source and pick up a copy through Chronicle Books themselves. Also, how incredibly interesting is it for me to see, on Amazon.com, which books customers “also bought,” from Eyal Weizman to 306090 and Neal Stephenson. It’s good company to be in!So expect more information about the book over the next two months, including voluminous and genuine thank yous for all the people who helped put it together – from my editor, Alan Rapp, and my designers, MacFadden & Thorpe, to everyone who contributed the book’s eye-popping range of 300+ images – as the actual publication date approaches. But, for now, I just couldn’t let today go without mentioning how happy I am to see this thing. Hello, book.

Mark, thanks so much! Really, really appreciated. And, Zaihan, definitely ask your library to pick up a copy – it should be easy to find once the book is actually released publicly.

Javier, thanks – you’ve been a huge encouragement with the site since the very beginning, so, hey, I owe you. I’d love to do some kind of book tour once I’m back from my big summer trip; we’ll have to see how it looks come late August.

The book itself, meanwhile, should start shipping by late June/early July, I believe? Thanks in advance to anyone who orders a copy – I think you’ll like it!

May it go down as the most historic book deal ever struck in Reno.Thanks back at you G, for trusting the book with me and Chronicle. It’s been a real honor, and fun too. And thanks (and apologies) to Nic for robbing so much of your time!

Seth, it was great seeing you today – and totally random! Wasn't expecting to run into you, but glad to show you the book and catch up and meet your wife. You were only the second person to see the book! Well, third if you count me. Keep in touch.

Alan (kipple), of course, man, I trusted you and Chronicle! I don't even regret receiving my initial contract numbers from you on El Dorado Hotel & Casino letterhead in Reno with pink neon shining on you from the pedestrian bridge outside… Even stranger, perhaps, is that I've now stayed in that hotel three times.

Hi GeoffHad this on pre-order on Amazon UK for a while (available July) – can’t wait ! Would love to do a piece on book for UK Geographical Association’s magazine which goes out to schools in the UK, picking out the many ‘geographies’ in the book. DM me on Twitter, or visit my blog Living Geography if you’re interested…

Congratulations! I’m always really happy to see people still producing print books, and of course BLDGBLOG is wonderful and giving it the permanence of print will make it a much appreciated addition to my library.

Thanks again! I just got into NYC, so I’ll get more posts up as soon as we’re settled and checked in and fully landed and ready to roll… including more info about the book over the next few weeks, so that it’s more clear what exactly is in it.

I’m absolutely inspired … in part, I think, by your own enthusiasm. I thought my 80-page thesis as a Masters of Architecture student was hard … I can’t even imagine the challenge and, after, the sense of reward. Kudos, congrats and wonderful well-wishes all around!

Just pre-ordered straight from Chronicle. I’m no fan of Amazon, and this de-ranking of GLBT titles kerfuffle is making me angry. Plus I’ve always figured getting something straight from the publisher was the best way to get the most money directly into the author’s hands, am I right?

Anyway: historic for me as this is the first blog-turned-book I’ve ever thought would make any sense at all. Can’t wait to open it fresh and shiny, soon!

Im an avid reader of the BLDGBLOG and I very rarely leave comments. For that, I am sorry. However, I must express how excited I am for you about the publication of your book. Im so excited to pick up a copy for myself soon. Congratulations!

Congratulations for this great achievement.I consider your blog to be one of the best that I’ve seen and for long time that is part of my blogroll.It’s good to know that one will find quality when visiting a blog.